Eric S. Cramer: High Energy Atmospheric Physics

Описание: COMPASS 2019-12-04: Eric S. Cramer
"High Energy Atmospheric Physics and the Mysteries of Lightning
over Land and Water"

Although lightning is one of the most commonly known and destructive natural phenomena on Earth, it remains poorly understood in terms of the most basic physics. Adding to the mystery has been the discovery that lightning emits X-rays and gamma rays. Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flashes (TGFs) are sub millisecond intense bursts of gamma-ray radiation (up to 40 MeV) associated with thunderstorms and lightning. TGFs have been observed from ground instrumentation, aircraft, and satellites, such as the Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) onboard NASA Fermi. In addition, I will discuss how TGFs have been observed with the strengthening phase of tropical storm systems and hurricanes. The fact that these lightning related events can affect the upper atmosphere and lower ionosphere has reshaped the scientific field to the study of high energy atmospheric physics. The research done on lightning has thus fused many areas of physics including plasma physics, atmospheric physics, and quantum electrodynamics. This talk will give a review of the field, including my graduate (FIT) and postdoctoral (UAH) theoretical research pertaining to the generation and propagation of TGFs through the atmosphere, as well as current and future satellite missions to study their physical properties. In addition, I will give a summary of rocket triggered lightning and the experimental data that was collected over several summer campaigns in conjunction with Florida Institute of Technology and the University of Florida.